Radio Propagation

CSCI 694
24 September 1999
Lewis Girod

Outline
Introduction and terminology
Propagation mechanisms
Propagation models

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Radio Propagation

What is Radio?
Radio Xmitter induces E&M fields
Electrostatic field components 1/d3
Induction field components 1/d2
Radiation field components 1/d

Radiation field has E and B component

Field strength at distance d = EB 1/d2
Surface area of sphere centered at transmitter
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Radio Propagation

General Intuition
Two main factors affecting signal at receiver
Distance (or delay) Path attenuation
Multipath Phase differences

Green signal travels 1/2 farther than

Yellow to reach receiver, who sees Red.
For 2.4 GHz, (wavelength) =12.5cm.
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Radio Propagation

Objective
Invent models to predict what the field
looks like at the receiver.

Attenuation, absorption, reflection, diffraction...

Motion of receiver and environment
Natural and man-made radio interference...
What does the field look like at the receiver?

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Radio Propagation

Models are Specialized

Different scales
Large scale (averaged over meters)
Small scale (order of wavelength)

Different environmental characteristics

Outdoor, indoor, land, sea, space, etc.

Different application areas

macrocell (2km), microcell(500m), picocell
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Radio Propagation

Outline
Introduction and some terminology
Propagation Mechanisms
Propagation models

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Radio Propagation

Radio Propagation Mechanisms

Free Space propagation
Refraction
Conductors & Dielectric materials (refraction)

Diffraction
Fresnel zones

Scattering
Clutter is small relative to wavelength
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Radio Propagation

Free Space
Assumes far-field (Fraunhofer region)
d >> D and d >> , where
D is the largest linear dimension of antenna
is the carrier wavelength

No interference, no obstructions

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Radio Propagation

Free Space Propagation Model

Received power at distance d is
Pt
Pr (d ) K 2 Watts
d

where Pt is the transmitter power in Watts

a constant factor K depends on antenna gain, a
system loss factor, and the carrier wavelength
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Refraction
Perfect conductors reflect
with no attenuation
Dielectrics reflect a fraction
of incident energy

Grazing angles reflect max*

Steep angles transmit max*

r
t

Reflection induces 180 phase shift

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*The exact fraction depends on the materials and frequencies involved

Diffraction
Diffraction occurs when waves
hit the edge of an obstacle
Secondary waves propagated
into the shadowed region
Excess path length results in
T
a phase shift
Fresnel zones relate phase shifts 1st Fresnel zone
to the positions of obstacles

Obstruction

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Fresnel Zones
Bounded by elliptical loci of constant delay
Alternate zones differ in phase by 180
Line of sight (LOS) corresponds to 1st zone
If LOS is partially blocked, 2nd zone can
destructively interfere (diffraction loss)
Path 1

Path 2

Fresnel zones are ellipses with the T&R at the foci; L 1 = L2+

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Power Propagated into Shadow

How much power is propagated this way?
1st FZ: 5 to 25 dB below free space prop.
0
-10
-20
dB -30
-40
-50
-60

LOS

0o
90
180o

Obstruction

Tip of Shadow

1st

Rappaport, pp. 97

2nd

Obstruction of Fresnel Zones

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Scattering
Rough surfaces
critical height for bumps is f(,incident angle)
scattering loss factor modeled with Gaussian
distribution.

Nearby metal objects (street signs, etc.)

Usually modelled statistically

Large distant objects

Analytical model: Radar Cross Section (RCS)
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Outline
Introduction and some terminology
Propagation Mechanisms
Propagation models
Large scale propagation models
Small scale propagation (fading) models

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Propagation Models: Large

Large scale models predict behavior averaged
over distances >>
Function of distance & significant environmental
features, roughly frequency independent
Breaks down as distance decreases
Useful for modeling the range of a radio system
and rough capacity planning

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Propagation Models: Small

Small scale (fading) models describe signal
variability on a scale of
Multipath effects (phase cancellation)
dominate, path attenuation considered constant
Frequency and bandwidth dependent
Focus is on modeling Fading: rapid change in
signal over a short distance or length of time.

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Large Scale Models

Path loss models
Outdoor models
Indoor models

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Free Space Path Loss

Path Loss is a measure of attenuation based
only on the distance to the transmitter
Free space model only valid in far-field;
Path loss models typically define a close-in
point d0 and reference other points from there:
d
Pr ( d ) Pr ( d 0 ) 0
d

PL(d ) [ Pr (d )] dB

d
PL(d 0 ) 2

d
0

dB

What is dB?

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Log-Distance Path Loss Model

Log-distance generalizes path loss to
account for other environmental factors
d
PL(d ) PL(d 0 )

d0

dB

Choose a d0 in the far field.

Measure PL(d0) or calculate Free Space Path Loss.
Take measurements and derive empirically.
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Log-Distance 2
Value of characterizes different environments

Environment
Free Space
Urban area
Shadowed urban area
Indoor LOS
Indoor no LOS

Exponent
2
2.7-3.5
3-5
1.6-1.8
4-6

Rappaport, Table 3.2, pp. 104

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Log-Normal Shadowing Model

Shadowing occurs when objects block LOS
between transmitter and receiver
A simple statistical model can account for
unpredictable shadowing
Add a 0-mean Gaussian RV to Log-Distance PL
Markov model can be used for spatial correlation
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Outdoor Models
2-Ray Ground Reflection model
Diffraction model for hilly terrain

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2-Ray Ground Reflection

For d >> hrht,
low angle of incidence allows the earth to act
as a reflector
the reflected signal is 180 out of phase
Pr 1/d4 (=4)
T

ht

hr

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Radio Propagation Phase shift!

25

Ground Reflection 2
Intuition: ground blocks 1st Fresnel zone
Reflection causes an instantaneous 180 phase shift
Additional phase offset due to excess path length
If the resulting phase is still close to 180, the gound ray will
destructively interfere with the LOS ray.

180

T
ht
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p0

p1

hr

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Hilly Terrain
Propagation can be LOS or result of
diffraction over one or more ridges
LOS propagation modelled with
ground reflection: diffraction loss
But if there is no LOS,
diffraction can actually help!

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Indoor Path Loss Models

Indoor models are less generalized
Environment comparatively more dynamic
Significant features are physically smaller

Shorter distances are closer to near-field

More clutter, scattering, less LOS

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Indoor Modeling Techniques

Modeling techniques and approaches:

Log-Normal, <2 for LOS down corridor

Log-Normal shadowing model if no LOS
Partition and floor attenuation factors
Computationally intensive ray-tracing based
on 3-D model of building and attenuation
factors for materials

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Outline
Introduction and some terminology
Propagation Mechanisms
Propagation models
Large scale propagation models
Small scale propagation (fading) models

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Recall: Fading Models

Small scale (fading) models describe signal
variability on a scale of
Multipath effects (phase cancellation)
dominate, path attenuation considered constant
Frequency and bandwidth dependent
Focus is on modeling Fading: rapid change in
signal over a short distance or length of time.

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Factors Influencing Fading

Motion of the receiver: Doppler shift
Transmission bandwidth of signal
Compare to BW of channel

Multipath propagation
Receiver sees multiple instances of signal when
waves follow different paths
Very sensitive to configuration of environment
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Effects of Multipath Signals

Rapid change in signal strength due to
phase cancellation
Frequency modulation due to Doppler shifts
from movement of receiver/environment
Echoes caused by multipath propagation
delay

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The Multipath Channel

One approach to small-scale models is to
model the Multipath Channel
Linear time-varying function h(t,)

Basic idea: define a filter that encapsulates

the effects of multipath interference
Measure or calculate the channel impulse response
(response to a short pulse at fc):

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t

h(t,)
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SKIP

Channel Sounding
Channel sounding is a way to measure the
channel response
transmit impulse, and measure the response to find h().
h() can then be used to model the channel response to
an arbitrary signal: y(t) = x(t)h().
Problem: models the channel at single point in time;
cant account for mobility or environmental changes

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h(t,)
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Characterizing Fading*

*Adapted from EE535 Slides, Chugg 99

From the impulse response we can

characterize the channel:
Characterizing distortion
Delay spread (d): how long does the channel
ring from an impulse?
Coherence bandwidth (Bc): over what frequency
range is the channel gain flat?
d1/Bc In time domain, roughly corresponds to the fidelity
of the response; sharper pulse requires wider band

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Effect of Delay Spread*

For a system with bw W and symbol time T...
Does the channel distort the signal?
if W << Bc: Flat Fading
Amplitude and phase distortion only

if W > Bc: Frequency Selective Fading

If T < d, inter-symbol interference (ISI) occurs
For narrowband systems (W 1/T), FSF ISI.
Not so for wideband systems (W >> 1/T)
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Qualitative Delay Spread

RMS Delay spread ()

Power(dB)

Mean excess delay

Typical values for :

Indoor: 10-100 ns
Outdoor: 0.1-10 s

Noise threshold

Delay
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Characterizing Fading 2*
Characterizing Time-variation: How does
the impulse response change with time?
Coherence time (tc): for what value of are
responses at t and t+ uncorrelated? (How
quickly is the channel changing)
Doppler Spread (fd): How much will the
spectrum of the input be spread in frequency?
fd1/tc
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Effect of Coherence Time*

For a system with bw W and symbol time T...
Is the channel constant over many uses?
if T << tc: Slow fading
Slow adaptation required

if T > tc: Fast fading

Frequent adaptation required
For typical systems, symbol rate is high compared
to channel evolution
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Statistical Fading Models

Fading models model the probability of a
fade occurring at a particular location
Used to generate an impulse response
In fixed receivers, channel is slowly time-varying; the
fading model is reevaluated at a rate related to motion

Simplest models are based on the WSSUS

principle
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WSSUS*
Wide Sense Stationary (WSS)
Statistics are independent of small perturbations in time
and position
I.e. fixed statistical parameters for stationary nodes

Uncorrelated Scatter (US)

Separate paths are not correlated in phase or attenuation
I.e. multipath components can be independent RVs

Statistics modeled as Gaussian RVs

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Common Distributions
Rayleigh fading distribution
Models a flat fading signal
Used for individual multipath components

Ricean fading distribution

Used when there is a dominant signal
component, e.g. LOS + weaker multipaths
parameter K (dB) defines strength of dominant
component; for K=-, equivalent to Rayleigh
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Application of WSSUS
Multi-ray Rayleigh fading:
The Rayleigh distribution does not model
multipath time delay (frequency selective)
Multi-ray model is the sum of two or more
independent time-delayed Rayleigh variables
s(t)
R1
R2
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r(t)
Rappaport, Fig. 4.24, pp. 185.

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Saleh & Valenzuela (1987)

Rappaport, pp. 188

Measured same-floor indoor characteristics

Found that, with a fixed receiver, indoor
channel is very slowly time-varying
RMS delay spread: mean 25ns, max 50ns
With no LOS, path loss varied over 60dB range
and obeyed log distance power law, 3 > n > 4

Model assumes a structure and models

correlated multipath components.
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Saleh & Valenzuela 2

Multipath model
Multipath components arrive in clusters, follow Poisson
distribution. Clusters relate to building structures.
Within cluster, individual components also follow
Poisson distribution. Cluster components relate to
reflecting objects near the TX or RX.
Amplitudes of components are independent Rayleigh
variables, decay exponentially with cluster delay and
with intra-cluster delay
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References
Wireless Communications: Principles and Practice, Chapters 3 and 4,
T. Rappaport, Prentice Hall, 1996.
Principles of Mobile Communication, Chapter 2, G. Stber, Kluwer
Academic Publishers, 1996.
Slides for EE535, K. Chugg, 1999.
Spread Spectrum Systems, Chapter 7, R. Dixon, Wiley, 1985 (there is a
newer edition).
Wideband CDMA for Third Generation Mobile Communications,
Chapter 4, T. Ojanpera, R. Prasad, Artech, House 1998.
Propagation Measurements and Models for Wireless Communications
Channels, Andersen, Rappaport, Yoshida, IEEE Communications,
January 1995.

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The End

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Scattering 2
hc is the critical height of a protrusion to

result in scattering.
h
c

8 sin( i )

RCS: ratio of power density scattered to receiver

to power density incident on the scattering object
Wave radiated through free space to scatterer and reradiated:

PR (dBm) PT (dBm)GT (dBi) 20 log( ) RCS [dB m 2 ]

30 log(4 ) 20 log(dT ) 20 log(d R )
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Free Space 2a
Free space power flux density (W/m2)
power radiated over surface area of sphere
Pt Gt
Pd
4 d 2

where Gt is transmitter antenna gain

By covering some of this area, receivers

antenna catches some of this flux
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Free Space 2b
Fraunhofer distance: d > 2D2/
Antenna gain and antenna aperture
Ae is the antenna aperture, intuitively the area
of the antenna perpendicular to the flux
Gr is the antenna gain for a receiver. It is related to Ae.
4 Ae
G 2
G 2
Ae

4
Received power (Pr) = Power flux density (Pd) * Ae
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Free Space 2c
1 Pt Gt Gr 2
Pr (d ) 2
Watts
2
d (4 ) L

where L is a system loss factor

Pt is the transmitter power
Gt and Gr are antenna gains
is the carrier wavelength
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LNSM 2
PL(d)[dB] = PL(d0) +10nlog(d/d0)+ X
where X is a zero-mean Gaussian RV (dB)

and n computed from measured data,

based on linear regression

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Ground Reflection 1.5

The power at the receiver in this model is
derivation calculates E field;
Pr = |E|2Ae; Ae is ant. aperture

ht2 hr2
Pr Pt Gt Gr
d4

The breakpoint at which the model

changes from 1/d2 to 1/d4 is 2hthr/
where hr and ht are the receiver and transmitter
antenna heights
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Convolution Integral
Convolution is defined by this integral:
y (t ) x(t ) h(t )

y (t ) x( )h(t )d

Indexes relevant portion

of impulse response
Scales past input signal
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Partition Losses
Partition losses: same floor
Walls, furniture, equipment
Highly dependent on type of material, frequency

Hard partitions vs soft partitions

hard partitions are structural
soft partitions do not reach ceiling
open plan buildings
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Partition Losses 2
Partition losses: between floors
Depends on building construction, frequency
Floor attenuation factor diminishes with
successive floors
typical values:
15 dB for 1st floor
6-10 dB per floor for floors 2-5
1-2 dB per floor beyond 5 floors
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Materials
Attenuation values for different materials
Material

Loss (dB)

Frequency

Concrete block

13-20

1.3 GHz

Plywood (3/4)

9.6 GHz

Plywood (2 sheets)

9.6 GHz

Plywood (2 sheets)

28.8 GHz

Aluminum siding

20.4

815 MHz

Sheetrock (3/4)
Sheetrock (3/4)

2
5

9.6 GHz
57.6 GHz

Turn corner in corridor

10-15

1.3 GHz

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What does dB mean?

dB stands for deciBel or 1/10 of a Bel
The Bel is a dimensionless unit for
expressing ratios and gains on a log scale
P2

P
1

dB

P2
10 log10
P1

10(log( P2 ) log( P1 ))

Gains add rather than multiply

Easier to handle large dynamic ranges
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dB 2
Ex: Attenuation from transmitter to receiver.
PT=100, PR=10
attenuation is ratio of PT to PR
[PT/PR]dB = 10 log(PT/PR) = 10 log(10) = 10 dB

Useful numbers:
[1/2]dB -3 dB
[1/1000]dB = -30 dB
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dB 3
dB can express ratios, but what about
absolute quantities?
Similar units reference an absolute quantity
against a defined reference.
[n mW]dBm = [n/mW]dB
[n W]dBW = [n/W]dB

Ex: [1 mW]dBW = -30 dBW

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Channel Sounding 2
Several Channel Sounding techniques can
measure the channel response directly:
Direct RF pulse (we hinted at this approach)
Sliding correlator
Frequency domain sounding

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Channel Sounding 3
Direct RF Pulse

Xmit pulse, scope displays response at receiver

Can be done with off-the-shelf hardware
Problems: hard to reject noise in the channel
If no LOS
must trigger scope on weaker multipath component
may fail to trigger
lose delay and phase information

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Channel Sounding 4
Sliding correlator

Xmit PseudoNoise sequence

Rcvr correlates signal with its PN generator
Rcvr clock slightly slower; PN sequences slide
Delayed components cause delayed correlations
Good resolution, good noise rejection

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Channel Sounding 5
Frequency domain sounding
Sweep frequency range
Compute inverse Fourier transform of response
Problems
not instantaneous measurement
Tradeoff between resolution (number of frequency
steps) and real-time measurement (i.e. duration as
short as possible)
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Digression: Convolutions
The impulse response box notation
implies the convolution operator,
Convolution operates on a signal and an
impulse response to produce a new signal.
The new signal is the superposition of the
response to past values of the signal.
Commutative, associative

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Convolutions 2
y(t) is the sum of scaled, time-delayed responses
x(t)

h(t)

y(t)

h(t)
Each component of the sum is scaled
by the x(t)dt at that point; in this
example, the response is scaled to 0
where x(t) = 0.

+
y(t)
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Convolutions 3
Graphical method: Flip & Slide
x(t)
Pairwise multiply x*h
and integrate over

h(t)

y(t)

x()

h(t-)
h(t-)
h(t-) Flip
h(t-)
h(t-)
Flip
&&&
Slide:
h(t-)
Flip
Slide:
h(t-)
Flip
Slide:
h(t-)
Flip
&
Slide: h(t-)
&
Slide:
h(t-)
and Store y(t)
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y(t)
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Frequency and Time Domains

The channel impulse response is f(time)
It describes the channel in the time domain

Functions of frequency are often very useful;

Space of such functions is frequency domain

Often a particular characteristic is easier to

handle in one domain or the other.

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Frequency Domain
Functions of frequency
usually capitalized and take the parameter f
where f is the frequency in radians/sec
and the value of the function is the amplitude of
the component of frequency f.

Convolution in time domain translates into

multiplication in the frequency domain:
y(t) = x(t)h(t) Y(f) = X(f)H(f)
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Frequency Domain 2
Based on Fourier theorem:
any periodic signal can be decomposed into a
sum of (possibly infinite number of) cosines

The Fourier Transform and inverse FT

Convert between time and frequency domains.
The frequency and time representations of the
same signal are duals
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Flat Fading
T >> d and W << BC minimal ISI
s(t)

r(t)

h(t,)
Delay spread

Time domain
(convolve)

0 Ts

Ts+

Coherence BW

Freq domain
(filter)

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fc

fc

Radio Propagation

fc

72

Frequency Selective Fading

T << d and W >> BC ISI
s(t)

r(t)

h(t,)
Delay spread

Time domain
(convolve)

0 Ts

0 Ts Ts+

Coherence BW

Freq domain
(filter)

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fc

fc

Radio Propagation

fc

73

Review
Object of radio propagation models:
predict signal quality at receiver

Radio propagation mechanisms

Free space (1/d2)

Diffraction
Refraction
Scattering

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Review 2
Factors influencing received signal
Path loss: distance, obstructions
Multipath interference: phase cancellation due
to excess path length and other sources of phase
distortion
Doppler shift
Other radio interference
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Review 3
Approaches to Modelling
Models valid for far-field, apply to a range of
distances
large scale models: concerned with gross
behavior as a function of distance
small scale (fading) models: concerned with
behavior during perturbations around a
particular distance
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Relevance to Micronets
Micronets may require different models
than most of the work featured here
Smaller transmit range
Likely to be near reflectors: on desk or floor.
On the other hand, at smaller scales things are less
smooth: ground reflection may turn into scattering

Outdoors, throwing sensors on ground may not

work. Deployable tripods?
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Relevance 2
Consequences of Fading
You can be in a place that has no signal, but
where a signal can be picked up a short distance
away in any direction
Ability to move? Switch frequencies/antennas? Call
for help moving or for more nodes to be added?
If stuck, may not be worth transmitting at all

Reachability topology may be completely

irrelevant to location relationships
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Relevance 3
Relevant modelling tools:
Statistical models (Rice/Rayleigh/Log Normal)
Statistical fading assumes particular dynamics, this
depends on mobility of receivers and environment

CAD modelling of physical environment and

ray tracing approaches.
For nodes in fixed positions this is only done once.

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Relevance 4
An approach to modelling?
Characterize wireless system interactions with
different materials, compare to published data
Assess the effect of mobility in environment on fixed
topologies, relate to statistical models
Try to determine what environmental structures and
parameters are most important:
Scattering vs. ground reflection?
can a simple CAD model help?

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